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After a 10-minute ferry ride from Changi Point in Singapore City, you’ll arrive on Pulau Ubin—a small, densely forested island where life moves a little slower. Rent a bicycle and spend a lazy day pedaling around this sleepy fishing kampung (village). You can sample fresh grilled fish and prawns from seaside hawker stalls, sip Tiger Beer, and get a glimpse of what life was like in parts of Singapore as recently as 50 years ago. Visitors may also enjoy kayaking trips and nature walks led by local volunteers. Check the National Parks website for details and to book tours. If you don’t want the peace and quiet to end, stay overnight at the island’s resort or at one of its free beach campsites.

Parque Forestal is Santiago’s lung and central park. Created for the first centennial celebration in 1910, the park has become an iconic area of the city with elegant residential apartment buildings along the perimeter. One of the most enjoyable ways to spend an afternoon is walking under the century-old trees and then strolling the cobblestoned streets of the adjoining Lastarria area. Parisian-style facades, cafés full of intellectual life, boutiques, museums like Bellas Artes (a copy of the Petit Palais in Paris), restaurants, and bars all bring this neighborhood to life.

Want to try hearty, rustic specialties that are considered true Chilean cooking? Look no further. This sprawling place on the outskirts of the city, in the foothills of the Andes, is a winner. Agustina Gómez de Olivares (aka Doña Tina), now 72, started decades ago selling “pan amasado,” homemade dimpled bread along the road. Years later, the whole family is involved. She’s stickler for seasonality so visit her during the summer months when corn is in season to try the heavenly national dish “pastel de choclo” or “humitas,” fresh corn tamales with basil. However, faithful capitalinos make the schlep east for her baked beef empanadas with juicy stuffing. Camino Los Refugios del Arrayán 15125, Lo Barenechea Phone: 56 (2) 2321 6546

A city tour of Lima isn’t complete without visiting the catacombs of the Monastery of San Francisco. The basement of the working monastery reveals the bones of wealthy Limeños who believed they would be the last to rest in their expensive plots. The tour reveals what actually happened to their remains. Since the catacombs couldn’t expand and affluent Catholics, unfortunately, kept dying, bodies were stacked to decompose down to the bones, and now the larger bones (femurs, forearms, and skulls) are arranged artistically in a circular pattern to make them more aesthetically pleasing to visitors. The site is interesting from both a historical and modern sociological, ethical, and religious standpoint.

Voted one of the top restaurants in Lima, chef Pedro Miguel Schiaffino’s modern Amazonian restaurant, Malabar, is worthy of the praise. From the à la carte menu, order the river snails with chorizo sausage and exotic, sweet-and-sour aguaje fruit, followed by the smoked duck with cacao sauce, avocado, and blue cheese. Or opt for the seasonal tasting menu featuring organic heart of palm salad with chestnut flour and paiche jungle fish with black hot peppers and nutty dale dale. In a city addicted to meat, Schiaffino’s vegetarian tasting menu is a delight. It includes black quinoa, Amazonian honey, and a starchy-sweet tuber dish translated as “seven textures of yucca.”

Den Haag grew up around the Binnenhof, but has evolved into a cultured and sophisticated city with attractions that extend far beyond its governmental functions. Still, the courtyard created by its government buildings is one of the top 100 among Dutch UNESCO monuments. If you’d like to see Dutch politics in action, you’re in luck if you’re visiting Den Haag on a Tuesday, when one-hour guided tours are offered at 13:00. In addition to touring buildings that surround the Binnenhof, you can sit in the public gallery and participate in lively discussion about proposed legislation.

Yes, there is Old Montreal and the shops of rue Sainte-Catherine. But Montreal is much more, especially in the Plateau Mont-Royal neighborhood, a place famous for its alternative atmosphere. Here you find tons of street art, each piece more delightful than the next. Most murals aren’t spontaneous works by local artists but are part of the many street art festivals taking place on Boulevard Saint-Laurent throughout the year, like MuRAL. Artists come from all over the world to paint, lending an international vibe to the city but also some amazing pieces. This here is one of my favorites, located on the corner of Saint-Laurent and Des Pins streets.

Touring this one-of-a-kind urban villa and archaeological site allows a unique insight into the city’s history. The beautifully restored urban mansion was once the residence of a wealthy Spanish family; they fled for higher ground when yellow fever struck San Telmo, and the abandoned building later served as tenement housing for countless immigrant families. When a new buyer purchased the property in 1985, he discovered layers of historical objects in the subterranean tunnels. Today, knowledgeable local guides take small groups through the grand villa and its underground maze, pointing out the old water cistern and display cases filled with antique children’s toys, old hairbrushes and beautifully painted dishes, reminders of an era gone by.

Another hot spot in Pigalle located in yet another former brothel. Dirty Dick, despite the name, isn’t a place of perdition but the city’s second tiki bar, where Polynesian folklore and the American fifties come to life in the details: lounge music that teeters between surf-rock and exotica, barmen in Hawaiian tops, bamboo stools, Maori sculptures, and a jungle-inspired smoking room. The cocktails, of course, are tropical and range from classic (mai tai) to homemade drinks like the Amazombie served for four people in a smoking crater. Should the bar be jammed, which is likely in the late hours of the night, head directly across the street to Glass, the other leading cocktail bar on the street.

You wouldn’t know it from walking the streets of Hongkou today, but this Shanghai neighborhood once was home to more than 20,000 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe. Shanghai before and during World War II was a safe harbor for European Jews, although by 1943, with the city under Japanese control, most were forced to live in what was called the Restricted Sector for Stateless Refugees, aka the Shanghai Ghetto. The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum is on the site of the former Ohel Moshe Synagogue, built in 1927 and one of two remaining synagogues in Shanghai (the other is Ohel Rachel in Jing’an). The museum’s exhibits showcase historical artifacts, among them a number of photographs, refugee passports, and copies of the newspaper Shanghai Jewish Chronicle.

The absolute best way to explore the rolling hills and secluded beaches of southern Guam is on two wheels. Start in Tamuning, where you’ll find affordable scooter rentals at Scooter World on Pale San Vitores Road. Take Marine Drive to the capital city of Hagatna, then turn on Highway 4 through the villages of Sinajana, Chalan Pago, Yona, Talofofo, Inarajan, and Merizo, finishing up at the southern tip of the island. Along the way, you’ll encounter verdant mountains, dramatic cliffs, and sparkling black sand beaches. If you get hungry, fill up on burgers at Jeff’s Pirates Cove and soft-serve ice cream at the Mobil gas station in Talofofo; both are local favorites.

Even Londoners need to escape the city every now and then. Kew Gardens offers a perfect day out...spectacular gardens, hidden meadows, glorious glass houses and lush forests. With over 300 acres to roam, it’s a great place for the kids to roam and adults to wander. Bring a book, find a bench and plan on spending a lazy afternoon lounging in the sun or shade. Kew has so many hidden corners, it’s also a perfect place for a blanket, two lovers and a bottle of wine (or two). Stop at Oliver’s Whole Foods or the market stands to pick up some wine and lunch before heading to the Gardens.

This beautiful square is one the city’s oldest; set in Le Marais, it’s surrounded by grand houses and an arched walkway lined with galleries and quaint cafés. At Number 6, you’ll find the former home of Victor Hugo, author of “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.” The park at its center is a popular place to gather al fresco in the warm weather.

Dingle is a charming fishing village in County Kerry, Ireland, and a popular tourist destination known for fresh seafood, sunrises, rolling hills, and live music. I enjoyed the music we heard in the bars and pubs we visited (the Guinness we drank keeps me from remembering all of it), but was particularly fond of the street buskers we met throughout the city. We met this gentleman on The Wood, and parted with a few pennies as he played us a tune. I was surprised at how many people walked right past him without lending an ear, only to slip into a crowded pub and stand some fifty yards away from the musicians on the stage.

This city-owned park in Berkeley will steal your heart, even before you find the stone slide! While I was exploring the park for the first time, I’d already been wowed by the little league park of my dreams, the magical Redwood trail running section and of course, the famed, tiered rose garden itself. Then I heard the sound of sliding cardboard and loads of laughter. Check out your Berkeley map and find the green patch titled ‘Berkeley Rose Garden’ on Euclid. Feel free to bring your own empty pizza box or other piece of cardboard to do your sliding on, but know that there are many left behind for your use, in case you forget.